Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read the judgement on behalf of himself and the CJI, said the bench must find out the context in which the five judges had delivered the 1994 verdict in the Ismail Faruqui case. (File)

The Congress on Thursday reacted cautiously to the Supreme Court’s decision declining to set up a larger bench for re-look at its 1994 verdict in the Ismail Faruqui case and stated that the party has always maintained that “all sides should accept the decision of Supreme Court in the Ayodhya temple-Babri Masjid issue”.

The government, it said, “should implement the decision”.

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In a statement, AICC communication department convenor Priyanka Chaturvedi also accused the BJP of conspiring for the last 30 years to mislead people on the Ram Temple issue.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi told The Indian Express that it is “strange that so much politics is permeating a completely legal issue.” He said, “(Ismail) Faruqui judgment was delivered 24 years ago. Faruqui has therefore held the field for 24 years. Good, bad or indifferent, it has been the law for 24 years. All that today’s judgment has decided is that there is no need to revisit Faruqui (verdict),” he said.

“If Faruqui (judgment) has not disturbed the Ayodhya issue for 24 years, why should a simple decision not to revisit it lead to so much hullabaloo,” he asked. “Moreover, Faruqui (case) was limited to the issue of acquisition of land on which the mosque stands. It was not concerned with the title dispute regarding Ayodhya.” Stating that Justice Ashok Bhushan has said it will not impact the decision on suits, he remarked, “All misleading comments by way of politics should be eschewed.”

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Chaturvedi alleged that BJP has two faces on the Ram Temple issue. “It collects votes in the name of Ram Temple but like Kaikeyi sends Ram into exile after getting power.”